Eggplant Recipe

and the story of the Scalini’s Eggplant babies

I fell in love with eggplant a few months back while I was pregnant with the little man.  Before that I had never had eggplant.

Well, when I was 8.5 months pregnant- huge, miserable, unable to sleep, ready for little man to make his appearance I had Eggplant Parm for the first time and LOVED IT!  You see, there’s this Italian restaurant in town that I’ve been going to since I was a little girl and it’s Nationally famous for it’s Eggplant Parm.  Here’s the deal- Scalini’s Eggplant Parm is famous for “helping” women go into labor within 48 hours of having eaten it.  They have a whole wall dedicated to baby photos of those children who were born due to their Eggplant Parm.

ABC’s Good Morning America did a special on it. And EVERYTIME you go in there you are GUARANTEED to see 3-5 immensely pregnant women.  My husband didn’t believe me at first but now he looks for them and just laughs.  Anyways, I was desperate- not castor oil desperate- but desperate enough to forgo my usual Cannelloni and give the Eggplant Parm a try.  Well, it became my new favorite entree!  So, I’ve been playing around with different ways to cook eggplant.

One of my favorites I’m going to share with you tomorrow- my Eggplant Pasta Excellente- but first, I need to share how I make my basic breaded eggplant- I use this for Eggplant Parm, the Pasta Excellente, and other yummy dishes I will share later on.

Ingredients:
Eggplant
1/2 Cup Flour
2 Large Eggs
1 Cup Bread Crumbs (finely grated)
1 TBS Oregano
1/2 TBS Parsley
1/2 TBS Basil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
Wash and slice your eggplant- sprinkle with salt.  Place on paper towels to help remove excess moisture- let sit for about 30 minutes.

Get 3 bowls- 1 for flour, 1 for eggs (whisk them together), 1 for bread crumbs mixed with oregano, parsley, and basil.

Put your frying pan on low and coat bottom with olive oil- you’ll want it hot and ready for your eggplant.

Take one slice at a time and coat it in flour, then eggs, then bread crumb mixture.

Put it in the frying pan to fry.  You’ll want it to be golden brown on both sides- but don’t mess with it too much- you don’t want your coating to come off.  It takes about 3-4 minutes on each side.

Then place your eggplant in a baking dish. (If you want to make Eggplant Parm you’ll layer in your tomato sauce and cheese at this step.)

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.